Originally published at National Catholic Register
Heavy opposition to a proposed casino near a Catholic university’s campus outside Dallas has helped stop the project for now, but critics are worried that the gaming company will try again.
“I think we won the first battle of what’s going to be a long series of battles about casino gaming,” Jonathan Sanford, president of the University of Dallas, told the Register on Wednesday.
Las Vegas Sands Corp., which operates casino resorts in Las Vegas, Singapore and Macau, earlier this year sought a local zoning change that would allow it to offer gambling as part of what it calls a “destination resort” on a 175-acre parcel about two-thirds of a mile from the campus of the university, an independent Catholic school whose chancellor is the bishop of Dallas.
That’s currently illegal in Texas, but lawmakers there have considered allowing casinos in recent years. If they do, and if voters approve a change in the state Constitution, Sands wants to build a casino resort near the site of the former Texas Stadium, where the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League played between 1971 and 2008.
While Sands officials haven’t said it publicly, many observers believe Sands would also build a
